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Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

In many ways my least interesting season, in many others, my most interesting season. As you can see from the graph above, we really never looked like threatening the playoff places, nor did we ever look like relegation was a worry. It was the definition of mid-table obscurity. That said, I found out a lot about these Blues last season.

As far as the details of the playing season go, basically we played the same dire, long ball hoofing, narrow defensive tactic Ricay has become known for. If you look at goal differential, we really should have finished right around the playoff places. Sadly, it was mostly the result of a few annihilations sandwiched around the fact that we stayed close in nearly every game. Between average goalkeeping and a very streaky strikeforce, its not the sort of performance that gives me hope these same players will be able to compete for the league next season.

I was again active in the free transfer market, and this year due to a new Spanish coach was able to raid Spain a tad as well. Half of my current first-choice back four came from Spanish free-transfers, as well as my first choice Keeper. There are now as many French, Spanish and Italians in the side as Englishmen, despite my scouts still being restricted to the UK plus Ireland and France. Heavy use of trials and Assistant suggestions is to blame.

Cups were a bit better this year. We went out on penalties in both the JPT and League Cup, but at least in the League Cup we lost to Premiership opposition in the form of Roy Keane's Ipswich. The FA cup saw our first ever appearance in the 3rd round, and we were rewarded with a money-spinning thrashing at Villa Park.

Before I get into transfers and finances, I should mention that Ricay was subject of a takeover. Sadly it was the boring board takeover kind, and my new chairman indicated immediately there would be no investment.

Here are the transfers & finances. Note I spent money on a transfer for the first time, on the disappointing Antony Sweeney, and that without the 300k from the Villa tie, we'd really be in trouble. FINANCES

Calvin Andrew - The longtime Ricay targetman was still able to contribute at this level, potting 19 goals.

Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez - Rodríguez Sánchez was a new signing from Spain, and looks the business. If I can keep them together, he could form an imperious partnership with Fratus.

Federico Fratus - The young Italian defender was inconsistent, but was immense when he was on.

Giuseppe Gallo - Gallo tied for top scorer with Andrew, though he really scored in bunches, 7 of his 19 came in 2 games. He was often subbed for dire performances when he wasn't on.

In real life, I'd probably say I've taken Ricay as far as they can be taken, as the stadium cannot be expanded due to lack of space, and without a larger facility, I'll never make the money to improve the training/youth facilities or to invest in the wage bill for better players. Given that knowledge, I suspect Ricay are looking at one more season of consolidation in League 1 and hopefully some profit from sales before I can make the push to the Championship. At that level, the only hope will be another takeover and a new stadium.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Picked to finish 15th at the start of the season, and finished 9th so it has to be considered a reasonably good season for the start of my career. It was a very disappointing start with only 1 win in the first 10 games. The squad played very well after all the new signing seemed to settle but in the end we came up short in the final month with some disappointing results that ultimately led to us just missing a playoff position.

Top Transfer News

Ricky Holmes (In) - Signed for free to play RW had a very good season. Has great speed and technical ability and should be a great player for a couple season unless I can sell him into a higher league.Ishmael Welsh (In) - Signed on a free to play LW and has tremendous pace for this level. His season form was not great, as he had some decent stretches of play but for the most part played much below his ability.Jeromy Noslin (In) - Signed in January for $1500 from Bedford. The midfielder from Holland suffered a 7 week injury which largely ruined any chances he would had in the first team but he should be a good player for next season.

Ricky Holmes - Finished 3rd in the league with 12 assists.Marc Newsham - Led the club with 19 goals.Adam Millson - Young player in the midfield that had a good year.Chris Wood - A rock on defense all season long.Mark Camm - Finished 2nd in the league in pass completion and 1st in the league in tackles with 3.12/game.

Most promising youngster:

Chimaobi Peters - This young RB played the whole year in U18 leagues however he will be part of the first team next year and looks to be a great prospect for the club.

Outlook for 2011/12 Season:
I am hoping to build out modest success from 2010/11 and hopefully earn promotion to the BSP. The squad needs upgrades at central defender and striker and that is my first prder of business in the off-season.

I'm in the hall of shame in FM08 - most goals scored by a relegated team - 101

Posts

2,204

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Bradford Park Avenue BSP 2012/13.

A bit of a damp squib really - my form tailed off over the last 10 or so games, limped into 3rd place so made the play-offs.

Kidderminster won the opening leg 2-0, in the return at Horsfal Park I took the lead in the 12th minute raising hopes of pulling it off. However Valentin Milenov my central midfielder had other ideas and launched a two-footed tackle in the 17th minute, got sent off and the game petered out into a draw.

Went out of both Cups in the 1st rnd proper - Harrogate beat me in the FA Cup thanks to a 30 yard screamer from a centre half who'd never scored in his previous 90 matches. That was their one shot in target in the whole 90 mins.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by MikaelS

I have never ever had a truely good player coming through my youth system in all my years of gaming FM so it is no surprise to me

I had some 2 premiership class players last year on fm09, oddly they both came in the first 2 years when i was non league. When i upgraded the facilities the youth players got worse, i'm convinced the standard of youth players is down to the youth coaches at the club.
In all the years i've played CM/FM i've never had any prem quality youths before never mind world class ones.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

With the club becoming professional, we had a big problem with the wage. Since everybody got his wage go up because of the promotion. My wage was already over the budget and had problems with signing new players. But knowing the squad was capable of playing good in League Two I started with a good feeling and still useing my 4-3-3 tactic.

Three new players this season: Helan, Fornasier and Szczesny. They did perfect! I let a lot of players go this season before I knew I would have problems with the wage budget. So brought in some loanplayers who did okish - but non really could get into my first 11.

Aim for next season: Midtable. Think next season will be really, really hard.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Thebaker

I had some 2 premiership class players last year on fm09, oddly they both came in the first 2 years when i was non league. When i upgraded the facilities the youth players got worse, i'm convinced the standard of youth players is down to the youth coaches at the club.
In all the years i've played CM/FM i've never had any prem quality youths before never mind world class ones.

I've never had any that have come from the new youth in take. In FM09 i was at Man Utd and i sent my scouts out specifically looking for players that we under 17 and a couple of them became world class players

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

An awful, awful season. I tried to rebuild the team over the summer, but I should have just stuck with what I had, as the team were looking like maturing into a mid-table side. The side I brought in were a mess, with only maybe two exceptions - my record signing, a left-winger who cost me £2.1m from Lazio, and the right winger Balboa, who would have been incredible except he did his cruciate on about February 2nd (just my luck) and probably will never play again as he's 32.

I'm very tempted to try rebuilding the whole team again as there was literally no improvement at all throughout the season, but I fear that will just destabilise everything again so I'll probably try and keep the same core as this season. Ideally I'd like to keep the first 11, and get rid of everyone else, then try and add to the squad that way, but it rarely works out like that. The club is in debt now, despite making a profit on transfers last season, so it may be a case of selling who people will buy in order to stay afloat. It's going to be a busy summer.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Gargra - Chippenham Town - Coca-Cola league 2 - 2012/2013

Didn't expect anything going into this season and was truly shucked when i was in 2nd place around newyears. Managed to hold down a 3rd place and promotion in the end. Was pretty close, drew tons of games toward the end of season.

Next season
As usual i don't expect managing much next season. Think alot of my players need replacing if i gonna have another promotion, because there was alot that really struggled at times this season already.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Entering the playoff final, but unfortunately my keeper got injured in the second leg, and has failed to recover, so my second choice, more experienced keeper comes in. Shrewsbury have one of their main centre backs suspended.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

hassebasse80, how could you lose 2.5 million in L2, in fact i only have 1 player in my squad earning more than woodward in wages.
you are going to struggle to pay that off in fact i'm surprised your not in administration.
my average attendance went from 2200 in L2 to 3700 in L1 this year helped by a max 10000 in the cup, this is with Merthyr.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Thebaker

hassebasse80, how could you lose 2.5 million in L2, in fact i only have 1 player in my squad earning more than woodward in wages.
you are going to struggle to pay that off in fact i'm surprised your not in administration.
my average attendance went from 2200 in L2 to 3700 in L1 this year helped by a max 10000 in the cup, this is with Merthyr.

With Merthyr in the Championship I'm losing about £3m per season excluding transfers at the minute, so that's a £3m profit I need to make on them to keep us going every year

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

After complaining about the standard of youth players and not having had any truely great ones this guy popped out this year. My coaches put him at L1 standard and already on a par with my other midfielders and with leading championship potential. i hope they are being conservative as coaches often are.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Thebaker

After complaining about the standard of youth players and not having had any truely great ones this guy popped out this year. My coaches put him at L1 standard and already on a par with my other midfielders and with leading championship potential. i hope they are being conservative as coaches often are.

I had a similar one except he was a WBL/ML, went straight into the team at 16, sold him for £2.5m eventually the summer after we made the Championship as he wanted to play for a big club. Definitely planning to resign him if I get the chance when we make the Premier League

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

A very decent season compared to the rest, in that I more often than not consistently played well. A small blip that took me down to mid table threatened me not getting into the playoffs this year, and eventually killed off hopes of auto promotion. However, I got to the playoffs. Drew the first leg 0-0, then won the second leg at home 3-0 in front of a bit shy of 6k fans.

Went to Wembley, where there was about 50k in fans, however, everything was done and dusted in 16 minutes, and I won 2-1, which means, obviously, promotion to League 1

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Looks like I will be getting in a player, after trialling, from Bochum, for 60k when he is worth £1.4 million. Been linked to him for a while, thought I would trial him, looks very good, and he is a full Albanian international, with 11 caps aged 22.

Got him now, 60k, this could be a decent bargain, and maybe I can make a decent profit off him one day

4 1/2 stars in current ability atm in League 1, so could do a good job in this division, and the Championship, and who knows, maybe even the Premiership. My wings are now a mix of an Albanian and an Austrian.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Thebaker

hassebasse80, how could you lose 2.5 million in L2, in fact i only have 1 player in my squad earning more than woodward in wages.
you are going to struggle to pay that off in fact i'm surprised your not in administration.
my average attendance went from 2200 in L2 to 3700 in L1 this year helped by a max 10000 in the cup, this is with Merthyr.

Sold my star player two seasons ago for 3.7m, he'd been with me from the start. Never spent the money, lost about a million of it last season, the rest this season. With 450 season tickets sold, 2800 in average attendance brings in next to nothing

Had player wages at 32k a week

Start of the first season in League one I have sold 1000 season tickets, sold a few players to raise 500k, and I'm averaging crowds of ca 5500, losing about 120-150k a month. Should keep me just out of administration for the season, need a decent FA cup run

Have four french defenders arranged to arrive already in May and they have League One ratings. I have no idea what to expect, as the leap from BSP to League Two is usually quite difficult. Consolidation is a must but perhaps we can try for the promotion spots. Here's hoping.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Where can I find a logo pack for the lower league clubs? Specifically clubs directly below the Blue Square North / South, and for the clubs in the Blue Square North / South that have no logo (Vauxhall, Weston-Super-mare, Ilkeston, etc)

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Summary
Best season ever.
The campaign started out pretty bad, but with only 2 signings it wasnt because i was suprised. Suddenly it all changed.
We began to play very well and did great in the Cups. After 3/4 of the season we where in top 3 in the league, in the JPT Final and 4th round of FA Cup
We WON the JPT Final and almost made it to the 5th round against Premier League team Huddersfield unfortunaly we where out of luck and lost 1-2
After this we played a bit unstable but got it back together to take the second place in the league, getting us a second promotion in 2 years
The finances are well finally at 500k. although we still havent sold even 1 player for money

Martin Very stable Center back!Laurent Did really really well with 40 gls in 50 games, best player of the year!Palsson Cant believe we got this guy at the start of the season, did well!PeltierCronesberry

Transfers Only 2 signings in the start of the season, and seemed like it helped the squad.
the other two signings was a backup and a signing in january who didnt do to well.

Goals for the upcoming season:
Would be nice to have a good FA Cup run again. and staying up ofcourse, but who cares

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

I still need kits for all the teams in the challenge.

Also, is anyone else finding it really easy to sign quality players upon promotion to the BSP?

I just got promoted after two seasons in the BSN with Frickley (I bumped up their reputation with an editor to get them promoted, and then changed it back to 750, so obviously I can't complete the challenge legitimately or post updates), which means I am by far the smallest club in the BSP reputation-wise.

Yet even before the new season ticked over, I've managed to sign Izale McLeod, Michael Kuipers, Kieran Murtagh and Mansour Assoumani to cheap wages without any competition. All would be at least very good L2 players as well. I could have gotten Chris Dagnall and Barry Corr too, who are of a similar level.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Nah, the logo FMF pack I got had no Nuneaton logo in, just every other clubs logo from England

Exactly... I cant find one - irritating managing the only team without a proper logo

Season 2 - BSP.

GUTTED! I have missed out on promotion to League 2 after an 8-9 penalty shootout loss to Cambridge Utd. I finished 4th in the league with Cambridge finishing 2nd so fair play they probably deserved it overall... but it doesn't make it any the less painful.

Ah well, I will be gunning for the automatic slot this coming season!!

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Kenwyne

Also, is anyone else finding it really easy to sign quality players upon promotion to the BSP?

I don't remember it being easy for me, in fact I think I maybe changed only one player in my first 11 between the BSS and promotion to League 2 with Merthyr. I've only ever had one really successful summer in terms of recruitment, which was the one preceding my promotion to the Championship, every player I signed then was great for us and subsequently sold on for big profits

Had a good start to my third season in the Championship (was due one after the previous two debacles), won 3 out of 4 - hopefully will not struggle against relegation again this year!

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Not much to say about this season really to be honest. Started off okay but fell to mid-table and stayed there all season finishing fairly well in 9th. Home form was immense, not losing until the new year, but i also didn't win away until the new year, until i finally found a tactic my team is suited to so i have high hoped for next season.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

I'll do a proper first season update at some point but my game just crashed half-way through season two, about two months (game time) since I last saved. I did pretty well in this period and signed/got rid of a few players as well.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Jaffa

Exactly... I cant find one - irritating managing the only team without a proper logo

Season 2 - BSP.

GUTTED! I have missed out on promotion to League 2 after an 8-9 penalty shootout loss to Cambridge Utd. I finished 4th in the league with Cambridge finishing 2nd so fair play they probably deserved it overall... but it doesn't make it any the less painful.

Ah well, I will be gunning for the automatic slot this coming season!!

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Alright, I gave up on this challenge after a couple of attempts when the game was first released. My tactics were probably shockingly bad so I've been reading over the tactical theorems yesterday/today and after a couple of test runs in other savegames I think I've got my head round the tactics in FM10 a bit better now.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Drewski. Boston United. 2018/2019. Championship

Shocked tbh, never did I think that we would win promotion to the Premier League this season, we had a good squad of players but I didn't think that we would be strong enough to actually go up, but with this game, there is a lot of surprises; here is the graph, we were actually top for a few games before finally settling for 2nd place, it was nice to see the team always challenging for at least a play-off spot.

Squad - it was nice to see three of my strikers getting into double figures, as well as my midfield contributing a few goals as well, you can say the only thing that ****ed me off was my goalkeeper, he couldn't save a shot even if he had a robotic arm that was programmed to save shots, lucky for us our team was going to score goals.

Kilgallon - he may have gotten worse this year but the stalwart still put in a very good performance over the duration of the season, I doubt he will be able to stand up to the ferocity of the Premier League so a replacement will be vital.

Mahoto - again, like Kilgallon, he was a stalwart in the heart of my midfield, he wasn't the fastest of fittest, but he was able to break up play and bang in a few stunners this season, he might need to be replaced next season.

van der Waal - superb, 21 goals for my main striker, very pleased with his overall performance this season, he will be my main man next season until I get someone better.

Transfers - lost my RB to Dundee United, but it was good money, most of the players bought in did well, whilst those who left were either crap or unhappy, with money made this leads to our finances, with over £4m in the bank, and with the tv money next season we should get a half decent budget to splash on new players, and I'll need it.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

I managed to comfortably attain a midtable position and if not for a shocking defence could have done better. Too many draws from winning positions.
In the League cup i was disappointed to go out 0-2 away to L1 Plymouth.
In the JPT i lost 1-3 to L1 Oxford away
I got past the 2nd Rd in the FA cup for the first time, beating my parent club Swansea 2-1 at home in the 3rd rd and then drawing 1-1 at home to premiership Everton in spite of having the better chances and deserving the win. I lost the replay 4-0.
I had an internal change of chairman who took out a loan of 300k to improve the finances, i also made 600k from playing Everton over the 2 matches, my finances finished in the black at the end of the season for the first time, about 85K.

Fornasier (history) and Fitzharris (history) left at the start of the season after not featuring too much in 15/16.Youga (history) was sold on as he was a high earner and at 31 was getting on.
I brought in a lot of young players to provide cover.

None of my goalies or defenders had good seasons, all had good runs of form followed by bad runs littered with awful mistakes. Rivera was brought in to replace Youga but had a particuarly shocking start to his career. Tennant was the best player, his average brought down by his 3 red cards.
The midfield with the exception of Noone followed the same pattern of form as the defence.
McShea and Kisuka started the season as the main strikers but poor form meant they were relegated to the bench.Bailleul came in jan and showed good form, forming a great partnership with Clarke.
Clarke really came on from last season where he struggled and finished as top scorer.

Star Player - didn't think he would make the step up in leagues, instead Noone had his best season for both goals and assists.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

What a season! I was worried for the first couple of weeks. Once my squad got to know each other and I could play a more attacking football things went much better for Boston U. After October I was at the top of the league for the rest of the season. However, it seemed no matter how well I played, wrexham played better. It was a 4 way race for most of the season but Wrexham wouldn't lose. This may have been my best season in FM but it wasn't good enough.

Leading up to the playoffs I was still making a push for 1st place. With 5 games left, I was still in the hunt. It came down to the last game when I was 2 points back. However, Wrexham pulled out an easy home win. My star CM Noone got a red card starting me with a disadvantage for the semi finals. The first game of the semi's I dominated but couldn't finish and walked away with a tie. The second game was epic: did not play well the entire game but managed to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. However Dag & Red pulled two back and I was sure we were going to pk's. I brought on Fitz to take a pk and instead he scored a late goal and we were through!

We got outplayed in the final but we managed to outscore them again in overtime. This time Super Kyle put in the winner.

I chose to focus on promotion so the cup runs were not stellar:Cup - ran into a tough side and was badly beaten.Trophy- most of my subs played in the last game.

Personnel

I only brought in a few players and felt my squad would do well in BSP and I wasn't wrong.

Key players:

The two new signings from the summer that came up big:

Noone- won the BSP player of the year award and with 20 assists from CM he deserved it. Destroyed teams with his passing.

Boyata- Very solid at the back, especially when paired with Gordon Dick. These two allowed me to press opponents very hard without having to worry about defense. I hope that they will stay this effective in League 2!

Super Kyle and Declan Bunting both scored over 30 goals for me this season and were very solid upfront. I wanted to work Fitzpatrick in but the others were too good for him to get much work.

I am looking forward to higher salaries. I can barely manage the team I have with 17 players. I need help on the right wing and perhaps a replacement for Nick Main. My goal for next year is to make another promotion challenge!

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Great season considering the previous one, never really challenged for a Play-Off spot, but I think it'd be too early for us anyway. The evolution rather than revolution policy paid dividends, as a number of previously rubbish players raised their game and performed for the team.

As it's my 10th year at the club I thought I'd give you a look at some of the stars of the current Merthyr team

Victor Anichebe - Signed in the summer on a free transfer, the ex-Everton player may be getting on slightly now, but he was great for us, scoring at will at times. It's a shame he wasn't more consistent, but after the struggles I've had finding the right striker, I'm not going to complain!

Giuseppe Barbato - £2.1m record signing a season and a half ago from Lazio - I still don't honestly know how they could let him go for that little, and how he was interested in signing for a team in the relegation zone of the Championship! Absolutely key player for us, pops up with the odd winner, and the best crosser of the ball I've had at Merthyr. Will be one of the players who will keep his place if we get promoted.

Daniel Carrera - Only signed in January, but the guy clearly has class. I use him in the deep-lying playmaker role, and it's a joy to watch him spread passes onto the toe of either winger. Like Barbato, I think he's easily good enough to play in the Premier League.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

It was a pretty straightforward season all in all. We stormed out of the gate, had our customary September/October slump, and then basically pillaged all that came before us thereafter. Pompey ran away from the league, they didn't lose their first game until my Ricay beat them in late February, though oddly this caused enough of a drop in form that Palace were able to overhaul them for the title. I can't help but think I had the team to challenge those two for the title, but some shaky goalkeeping and my inability to win matches as favorites lead to probably a pretty fair final table, with plucky Ricay finishing 3rd.

That of course left the playoffs as our only opportunity to go up, which I felt pretty good about, as Rotherham were the only team in the playoff places that really gave us a lot of trouble throughout the season. In the first leg we were drawn against Peterborough, who had just turned us over 0-3 at the New Lodge two fixtures earlier. The first leg was at London Road, and it was a nervy fixture, Nico De Jong opening the scoring for Ricay with a bullet only to be reversed in the 59th minute by a Troy Deeney strike. Fabio Borini then gave us the hammer for the return leg by audaciously lobbing Posh keeper Joe Lewis, who palmed the ball into his own net.

The return leg was made to seem academic when Ed Upson arrowed a shot in the near corner on 5', but while we threatened, we could never score the second goal which would have killed off the tie. Davide Orsi, a former Man Utd youth product that we had scouted heavily and offered half the kingdom to sign in the summer made things interesting when he skinned Fratus in the 61' en route to beating my keeper. The last half an hour was nervy as Posh threatened constantly, but in the end Ricay held on for a 3-2 aggregate win and a trip to Wembley.

The playoff final pitted Billericay Town against Rotherham United. We played Rotherham 4 times the past 2 seasons having lost two and drawn two. I was not feeling especially confident, though I new we had the fresher squad given my almost obsessive rotation policies. The match started off with drama, as Borini was played in by a Dady header and his ferocious strike was bobbled by the Rotherham keeper who put it behind him for a 1-0 Ricay lead. We'd hold that throughout a tame first half. In the second, Borini was played clean through and rifled a shot into the low right corner. Two-nil to Ricay and I must say I was feeling confident. That scoreline held until the 82' when sub Calvin Andrew was felled in box. Midfielder Vega stepped up and stroked home the resulting penalty, and Ricay had earned promotion to the Championship!

The cups went ok. We were dumped out of the League Cup in round 2 by EPL side Leeds United in a 6-0 thrashing at Elland Road that kicked off a 2-month slump. We also went out in the 2nd round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy to a Portsmouth side at the height of their powers. The FA Cup however saw us earn a pair of profitable ties, earning a 1-1 vs Preston North End at Deepdale before turning them over 3-1 in the replay. That left us facing Leeds at Elland Road again in the 4th round, the furthest we had yet gotten in the competition. Leeds had a man sent off in the 5th minute, and Dady popped up to head a cross home in the 20th. We had approximately a half-dozen chances after that to take a two goal lead and book a place in the 5th round. Unfortunately, Premier League sides make League One sides pay for being wasteful, and goals in the 35th and 86th minute meant we crashed out. Still, there's no way we balance the books for the season without those ties.

Transfers & Finances to follow. We bought more quality than quantity this time, though I must say while Dady and Zicu did a job for us, I really must learn that buying these over-30s is almost always a disappointment. We turned a profit for the season, though again, without those cup ties and 160k injection by the board, we'd have been all of 9k in the black for the season. Overall we're still in the red, and that's definitely hurting come budget time. I think I will sell a star or two in the close season to try and balance the books.

Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez - Rodríguez Sánchez was far and away my player of the season, solid at the back and unbelievable on set pieces, my leading scorer overall with 15 goals, all but one from Corners and Indirect Free Kicks. The key is the combination of Jumping, Heading and Acceleration, which lets him lose his marker. If I don't lose him this year, I'd be surprised, he's definitely Premiership potential.

Rafael Moreno - The young Spanish full-back is not only solid on the flank, but excellent at cutting out diagnal balls in the air.

Fabio Borini - Borini was nominally my best striker this year, signed after being released by GH Academy of all places. He was mighty inconsistent as well, but he did do the business in the playoffs.

So we've made the Championship. I'm not predicting anything other than a relegation battle, because while the overall squad quality isn't terrible, there's little prospect for improving the wages, as we're still playing at the New Lodge, with 424 seated and a 3500 capacity. We still have lousy training and youth facilities, and last seasons new Chairman is still thrilled to be here. We'll keep plugging along though.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

pjtopor, Looks like you had a very consistant and solid season there, with some very good defenders. Interesting that you have some reasonable sponsorship deals, mine was renewed in 2015 when i was in L2, for 5k and lasting 5 years

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Ok dafuge,I have started this as Carshalton but I have a problem. I cannot post a screenshot. I followed your instructions by pressing ALT + F9 for the shot but when I went to the fm10 folder,there was no screenshots folder there so I created one and tryed again but still no luck. Can you or anyone advise me please so I can post my screenshot which will now be late due to playing the game.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

OK so I am playing this challenge, and everything is going not too bad except for a few times per season I have congested fixtures (not even because of cups just league matches) and my squad is completed exhausted on matchday.

I have 20 players in the 1st team. 2 injured and 1 suspended.
Yet I am going into game #3 in a row with zero chance of winning because most players on my squad are starting the match in a "tired" state and start with stamina levels of around 75%-80%.

Is this normal and just something you need to deal with at this level? Or is my squad just to small?

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by Thebaker

pjtopor, Looks like you had a very consistant and solid season there, with some very good defenders. Interesting that you have some reasonable sponsorship deals, mine was renewed in 2015 when i was in L2, for 5k and lasting 5 years

Yeah, the non-stadium financial stuff has been pretty reasonable this save, certainly a lot better than my last extended attempt at LLM. The sponsorships updating, the board hasn't killed me for going a wee bit over budget. Apparently I must have a good chairman if you're not seeing the same good fortune.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Originally Posted by stokes_83

OK so I am playing this challenge, and everything is going not too bad except for a few times per season I have congested fixtures (not even because of cups just league matches) and my squad is completed exhausted on matchday.

I have 20 players in the 1st team. 2 injured and 1 suspended.
Yet I am going into game #3 in a row with zero chance of winning because most players on my squad are starting the match in a "tired" state and start with stamina levels of around 75%-80%.

Is this normal and just something you need to deal with at this level? Or is my squad just to small?

Might have a look at your training. I tend to run with a 22-25 man squad and rotate heavily whenever there's fixture congestion, and I rarely have to start a player below 97% unless its right at the beginning of a season.

Quite a slow start to the season, though I was happy that things were going well compared to my last attempt at this challenge. But then the team suddenly seemed to click and during the middle of the season, nobody could beat us. Our run included a nice 6-game win streak.

The latter part of the season featured a couple of defeats that dented any hopes of automatic promotion, but a 4th place finish put us into the playoffs, where we faced AFC Telford in the semi-finals.

A 2-1 win at home in the first leg had us in a good, but precarious, position for the return leg. It seemed that I was on my way out when AFC Telford went 4-2 up at home in the 71st minute, but a penalty coolly put away by Super Kyle in the 85th minute looked like sending the game into extra-time. Incredibly, we managed to grab a winner in the 4th minute of stoppage time, sending us through to the playoff final!

So we faced off against Blyth for promotion to the BSP. In an amazing start, we took the lead after less than 2 minutes with Chris Denham poking home from 8 yards. Not much else happened in the first half, but in the second half Blyth were on top and 2 quickfire goals took them to victory.

Not much to speak of in the cups. Lost in my first FA cup game to an all-grey team. Won my first FA trophy game, but then lost in the next round.

Aims for next season:

-- Playoffs or better in the league
-- A run in one of the cups
-- Try to improve the finances, somehow!

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

Doing superbly in my Championship season, It's been a long season, taking me much longer than other seasons, but it has been fantastic. Made superb free signings and my team are clearly capable. We are currently sitting just inside the play-off spots and I am confident that if I was to make it to the playoffs (currently in middle of March) iI reckon we could take it.

Re: dafuge's FM10 challenge

The season went fine in the end but had a general feeling on what 'could have been.'

Started off very poorly and by January we were hovering around the relegation spots. Then I decided to stop being stubborn and tweak my tactics, which worked like magic as we went on a huge run from February, not losing until the final game of the season. We even nearly nicked a play-off position but failed to win our last match against a side already promoted (which felt like complete failure.)

After a fantastic season last year which involved winning the title and reaching the 3rd round of the F.A Cup, would Nantwich be able to cement themselves as a league club? The best way to describe our season, is to look at Hull City last year in the Premier League. They had a fantastic start, then become utter rubbish, picked up some important victories, and only stayed up because the teams lower than them were worse than them.